


Wolf of the Stars

by Decepticonsensual



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25286767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Decepticonsensual/pseuds/Decepticonsensual
Summary: They were known as the Wolf Fleet.  No one knew where they had come from, or why they only hunted Imperial ships.  They would strike out of nowhere - a fleet of fighters and warships, all painted with the infamous wolf’s-head crest - and hit with a sheer force and brutality that none of their targets had yet been able to withstand, and then vanish once again.  The few survivors told wild stories about savage boarders who fought with a ferocity that was more animal than sentient.Even less was known about their leader, the one they called the Great Wolf.  The rumours said that he was a hybrid of wolf and man; that he drank the blood of fallen Imperials, and it gave him an unholy strength; that he possessed a single stark white eye that could spot his prey across lightyears of space.One thing everyone did know about the Wolf Fleet, and that was that they never took prisoners.A post-Clone Wars canon divergence.  Some of the clones manage to figure out and remove their chips prior to Order 66, and so are able to escape.  Years later, a mysterious pirate fleet is ravaging the Imperial armada - a pirate fleet with an oddly familiar crest...
Comments: 23
Kudos: 112





	Wolf of the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> (Content warning: Brief depiction of violence/blood mention.)

She wasn’t even supposed to be on the cruiser that day. The end of the school trip was still a week away, and transportation home afterwards already arranged; but that morning, an anxious-looking headmistress had pulled her aside after breakfast. A confidential communique - threats made against her father - safety of the other students - surely she understood. And half an hour later, she was bundled onto a shuttle to meet with a passing Imperial convoy, which would drop her safely back home.

There were some advantages to being an unexpected guest. For example, the fact that she’d simply been parked in empty crew quarters meant that when the lights went red and the alarm started to blare, there was no one to tell her to sit tight, or try and prevent her from going to investigate. So she slid the small blaster she always travelled with out of her bag, and followed the muffled sound of explosions.

The first few Stormtroopers who went running past didn’t seem to be in much condition to tell her anything, but eventually, she stumbled across a room full of technicians frantically pushing buttons - it looked, from the flashing diagrams latticing the room in red, like the primary engines were off and they were trying to restart them - and she was able to ask, “What’s going on?”

The head technician started to curse before turning and spotting her, and biting off the word. Instead, he barked, “Pirates, Highness! I suggest you get back to your quarters!”

“ _Pirates_?”

“The Wolf Fleet! Now, you really must -”

The man broke off in a gurgle, as blood began to pour from around the shrapnel that had lodged in his neck. He crumpled to the ground.

What had been the far wall of the room was now a smoking hole, and stepping through…

At first, she thought it was a stormtrooper, but the armour was - wrong. Eerie, jagged designs in grey and black scrolled over the helmet, the arms, the chest plate. Instead of the usual two eye shields - which gave stormtrooper helmets at least the appearance of a face (as her father had pointed out, once, when she’d been tiny and afraid of the faceless soldiers) - the black transparisteel on this figure’s helmet formed a single, menacing slit.

That eyeslit turned towards her. And that was the last she knew for a long time.

***

They were known as the Wolf Fleet.

No one knew where they had come from, or why they only hunted Imperial ships, when merchants and smugglers made far easier pickings. No one knew where they berthed. They would strike out of nowhere - a fleet of fighters and warships, all painted with the infamous wolf’s-head crest - and hit with a sheer force and brutality that none of their targets had yet been able to withstand, and then vanish once again. The few survivors told wild stories about savage boarders who fought with a ferocity that was more animal than sentient. Some even swore they’d seen the pirates _change_ in mid-battle, becoming literal wolves that tore the throats out of trained Imperial soldiers before they could even raise their weapons.

Even less was known about their leader, the one they called the Great Wolf. The rumours said that he was a hybrid of wolf and man; that he drank the blood of fallen Imperials, and it gave him an unholy strength; that he possessed a single stark white eye that could spot his prey across lightyears of space.

One thing everyone did know about the Wolf Fleet, and that was that they never took prisoners.

She woke up in what seemed to be a cargo hold, surrounded by figures in the same strange, defiled armour. Before she could even start to form a plan, one of them noticed her stirring and nodded to another, and a pair of handcuffs were clamped around her wrists, a blindfold wrapped over her eyes.

Once the ship had jostled to a stop, she was taken by the arms and marched for what felt like miles. And then the blindfold was lifted.

“Picked this one up on the last raid, Wolf,” the pirate to her left said.

She blinked in the sudden light. Towering over her was a man, in armour like the others… but _this_ man had his helmet off. It sat tucked under his arm, the paintwork forming an elaborate wolf’s head with snarling teeth. The man turned his eyes on her: one brown, one stark white.

She bit down on the inside of her cheek to try and still her trembling.

“And what were you doing on an Imperial battle cruiser, _ad’ika_?” the Wolf asked her softly.

She drew herself up. “My father is a Senator. The Empire will be looking for me.”

“They can try.” He bared his teeth in something that was almost, but was not, a smile.

Ignoring the pounding of her heart, the frantic fluttering of her thoughts - _no one’s ever found the Wolf before, what if Papa never -_ she glared at him with all of the fire she could muster. Then, for good measure, she spat at his feet.

“You can kill me if you want, but my father _will_ hunt you down! You won’t get away with it!”

To her surprise, the Wolf rolled his eyes, the faintest trace of a real smile on his lips, this time. “No one’s killing anyone, _ad’ika._ Come on.” He drew on his helmet. The smile vanished under the slavering jaw of the painted wolf. “I think it’s time you met our leader.”

***

_The Great Wolf has a leader._

It was all she could think, as they walked her down a corridor, the Wolf himself striding ahead. This man was the terror of the Imperial spaceways, a figure of legend… and it turned out there was someone even more powerful above him, a figure so shadowy no one had even _heard_ of them.

She was shaking in earnest, now, hoping the pirates holding her arms couldn’t tell.

She was shown into a small anteroom - a startlingly pleasant space, especially compared with what she’d imagined a pirate stronghold would be like. It was light and airy, with long windows open on the forests of a planet she didn’t recognise. The furnishings were simple, and looked as though they’d been scavenged from wildly different sources. An array of cushions dotted the floor around a single low table. In one corner, a teapot sat, gently steaming.

Her escorts undid the handcuffs, and she rubbed at her wrists, trying to school her expression so as not to show fear. A tall alien man in a plain tunic bowed to her. “Welcome,” he said. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“ _No,”_ she snapped; and then, not wanting to take out her fear and anger on some unfortunate servant, she added in kinder tones, “No, thank you; I don’t want any tea.”

“As you please.” He bowed again, gesturing her to a cushion. “Please sit. I imagine you’ve had a tiring day.”

She sat. There was no one else in the room as yet. Under the table, she clenched her hands together until the knuckles turned white, and tried not to think about what the _true_ leader of the Wolf Fleet might be like. Were they human? Like the Wolf, but even more intimidating? Would they be an alien? Or - could the stories be true, could they be an actual monster?

The servant took a seat across the table from her, but she didn’t bother looking up… not until the Wolf paused in the doorway and saluted.

_Saluted._

And said, “Will that be all, General?”

“Yes, my Wolf,” the man she had taken for a servant replied. His voice was still every bit as mild, and that was somehow worse. “I shall let you know if I need anything.” As he tilted his head, the golden light gleamed off the strange, fang-like protrusions of his breathing mask. She caught her breath.

When the door had closed, the man - the General - turned to her. “I hope you don’t mind if I go ahead and have some tea? You are always welcome to join me.”

She shook her head… and then her eyes widened. Without anyone carrying them, the teapot and a single cup were drifting towards the table. The General kept his gaze on hers, apparently unconcerned as a ghostly hand poured a cup of tea and set it in front of him.

She’d seen this kind of power before. But not gentle, like this; she’d seen it used to send a Senator who’d displeased the Emperor’s envoy flying across the room and crashing into a pillar, in the moments before her father had shooed her out of the room, fear in his eyes. This was the power of Lord Vader.

And, apparently, of this pirate king, who used it to… pour… tea?

“The Force has many uses,” he said, as if he could read her thoughts. From the way his muscles moved at the edges of the mask, she thought he was probably smiling. “Now. I knew your father in the old days, Leia Organa. I believe we have much to talk about.”


End file.
